Bipolar Disorder is also known as "Manic Depressive Disorder". This forum is for questions and support for people with, or for loved ones of people with Bipolar Disorder. The forum covers topics ranging from Aggressive Behavior, Affect on friends and Family, Alcohol and Drug Abuse, Appetite Changes, Chronic Pain, Denial, Depression, Difficulty Concentrating, Euphoria, Guilt, Manic Depression, Medications, Mood Swings, Poor Judgment, and Sleep Disorders

bipolar disorder or bad attitude ?

i believe that i have bipolar disoder , i only told one friend about it. but lately i have been feeling depressed and crying. me and one of my closest friends' got into an argument because of a "mood swing". sometimes i would get mad/upset for no reason. its like i'm having the symptoms when i have my period times 5. one minute i'll be happy and cheerful the next i'll be yelling and argueing. well , the question is am i really bipolar ?

Hi there, your symptoms do sound like Bipolar but they also sound like other illnesses too, you would need assessing by a psychiatrist, it can take quite a long time.
I can relate to what you are saying about it being similar to when you are hormonal, I find whether I am high or low, the onset of menstruation always makes me worse, its one of my triggers.
It's horrible when you argue with friends, you need them but sometimes emotions take over, all you can do is learn from it and get help.
You ought to see your doctor who can refer you onto a psychiatrist.
Good luck

My suggestion is not to tell you think you have bipolar. tell to your friend you need some help because of your "mood swings". Tell you see how that affects them, and you do not want to ruin your relationships with them, and you need help in that because you don`t know how to control your emotions. Would that be OK?

And when you get your diagnose, everyone will trust you... No matter what it is... If you had any problems with sharing it with your friends then you can post that question here...

You are not an expert, so it`s logical you`re predictions might be false. But I still think they shouldn`t judge your opinion, but be your support if they are true friends...

Hi there, I'm sorry that you are having problems, but I think it's a good thing you recognize problems exist! Trust what looloo and morethenavirus say, they speak the truth!

I just very recently opened up to my doc about getting help with my feelings and emotions and I understand how difficult it may seem at first. Try to just be as open and honest about your concerns as possible. Like they said, you don't have to tell your doc that you think you have this or that, just explain that you are struggling with "mood swings", or thoughts and feelings, and that you feel you would like to see a psychiatrist.

I too felt that no one would believe me or that they might judge me, so it really helped me to have my husband with me at the doc and the psychiatrist. I think it made it easier for me, because I had someone with me for personal support, but I also felt that he could somewhat "validate" my concerns. Maybe your friend could go with you for support? Something else I wished I would have done is to write down some examples of situations where I felt I might have some problems. Something like maybe a journal, where you can really express what you are feeling and why(if there is a why:) )

I'm 26 now with 2 children and one thing I truly regret is being to afraid to ask for help sooner! But now that I've started the process, I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of me. I've only just begun, but I already feel so much hope for a happier and healthier me(and my family & friends)

Please do this for yourself. We all deserve to be happy, and they will help you if you ask!!

This forum has been a great place of support for me, so I hope you'll come here, when you you need it! :) Good luck!

And maybe you could use mood or sleep tracker(look at the left side of this site, lower then advertisement is "Application". Go to trackers, and find those two...) on MedHelp and show it to your psychiatrist...
In mood tracker are also some journal options... If you don`t want anyone to see it, go to "Actions"(in right top corner of the tracker)-->"Change privacy"

Self diagnosing is very unwise. Bipolar is a serious condition and not something that will control your emotions for hour to hour. In my opinion what you are describing is day to day irritability. Bipolor doesnt mean that one minute you are happy and the next you are snapping at a friend. They cycles are longer than that, weeks to months of depression and mania with mixed days here and there. It also isnt something that just appears. Bipolar symptoms will start in early teen years and is usually misdiagnosed as depression or bad behaviour.

Bipolar will also play a major part in the background of your life. People suffering from undiagnosed or untreated bipolar can experience drug/alcohol abuse, risk taking behaviour, credit defaults, multiple sexual partners, insomnia, impulsive behaviour, shopping sprees, hallucinations, employment issues, problems with being responsible, extreme self esteem, believing that they are more intelligent than others, rapid thinking and speech, unable to complete tasks, enthusiastic about everything, excessive lying, anxiety, unsocial, excessive sleep, weight loss and gain and the list goes on and on. These major symptoms will be present in young teen years and they will struggle with them for the rest of their life.

Mental illness is also something very hard to diagnose, someone with bipolar will more than likely have several different doctors telling them that they have something else like ADHD or personality disorder. The symptoms of personality disorder and bipolar and nearly identical and it is very difficult to tell if a person has one or the other. A very large percentage of people with a bipolor diagnosis will also have personality disorder.

When an adult is diagnosed they will have a feeling of "well that explains a lot". Because their teens years were so difficult.

How do I know this? At 13 years old I was told I had depression. I was steeling, sleeping around by 14, on drugs and drinking, expelled from several school, violent, lying, pregnant at 14 and a mother at 15, under weight the over weight, it was that bad i was medicated to the point where I would sleep 18 hours a day. When i wasnt medicated I would stay awake for up to 6 days (I wanted to sleep but just couldnt fall asleep). I was in and out of hospital and in serious debt. I lost custody of my son. Then at 20 I was diagnosed with Bipolar. It was an "ah ha" moment. I am doing better now, sober, responsible and have my son with me now, seeing a professional to monitor my condition but it is always a battle. I have just learnt to deal with it.

You should go and see a psychiatrist or therapist. Obviously there is something wrong, and that something is really upsetting you. They will believe you. They will ask you a million questions and sort through your answers to come up with a diagnosis. It is best if you track your moods. See if anything is triggering them. They will ask questions like 'how often does this happen' and 'when does this happen' 'describe how you feel when this happens' the more foresight you can put into it the better chance of getting a proper diagnosis. They will also ask family history. It is possible but rare for someone to have bipolar without serious mental illness being in their family tree. I get mine thanks to dear old Dad's side of the family.

But please do go and get this checked out. I hope for your sake it isn't bipolar, but if it is this is a good place to hang out. If it isn't bipolar than at least you will know what it is. And don't be insulted if they send you to a therapist. They will do that sometimes to see first if that helps before turning to medication.It is hard to tell from the snap shot you gave us. Like nici said there is so much more to bipolar than some quick mood swings. It has to really affect your daily living and cause you to have problems in all areas of your life such as work and socially.

If you are bipolar what you describe would be ultra rapid cycling which is a rare subset of bipolar disorder and often triggered by the use of antidepressants. When in episode I sometimes get that. I go from laughing to crying to stable to crying to laughing to crying, etc. in a day to half a day segments. Bipolar mood episodes aren't here than quickly gone. When you are in episode you can not control your emotions. You can't sit still, you must be in motion, you can't help but cry and it may be triggered by something as dumb as a TV commercial and you are in puddles for the next few hours. I can't work, I can't have a social life, I become a hermit because I can't trust where my mood will be hour to hour.

It took 3 years to get on medication that worked. During that time I had a 4 month hypomanic episode (everything was great even though my grandmother died and my basement was flooded with raw sewage and I was on the brink of losing my job - and did lose that job after being on 6 months of disability) And a 3 month depression (I was a waste of space, no one would miss me if I was gone, God I wish I was dead but I don't have the energy to pull it off so I will go back to bed and sleep to try and forget how lousy I feel)

There is a more mild form of bipolar called cyclothymia. It is swings but much lower than the threshold for bipolar.

Like I said I hope you don't have bipolar but have something that responds better to things like talk therapy. Bipolar is a nasty nasty disorder and something I wish none of us had to experience.

Oh honey, you will be believed. Doctors aren't like parents, parents don't want to believe there is a problem with their child, they think it is a sign of bad parenting, or a reflection on them. My parents never used to believe me either because I was doing well at school, and because I didn't tell them things! I tried to commit suicide when I was 11, but my older sister looked after me and my parents only found out a few years ago! I'm 31 now.
I'm a parent now and I hope I would know if my child was depressed.
How old are you? Lots of parents blame mood changes on hormones, while hormones do make you feel terrible, it is easier for parents to believe that you'll get better when the hormones have calmed down.
The fact you are feeling this way and coping with hormones, means you are very strong but you need some help.
It is terrible when you are young to be feeling this way, you should be having fun!
Do you feel that your friends won't believe you too?
Remember that they are going through difficulties themselves but don't know how to show it, they might not want you to think they're weird! Lots of people keep things like this to themselves and once you have broken the silence they might open up too!
If they don't react well, give them time, they might not know what to say to you at first..its hard to find the right words...if they don't believe you after this then they are not your real friends!!
Keep us posted Hun, we are here!

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